“So you’ll steal someone else’s home?” I pointed to the surface. “The academy doesn’t belong to you. You’re already encroaching on the selkies’ territory and disrupting the local wildlife. Even if you tricked the Fae into giving you our school land, everyone else who lives around here would hate you. Is that what you want?”
“Everyone already hates us,” she said with a shake of her head. “The other magikin can mostly get along with humans, but we’re too different for them to trust us. That’s why they force us into these tiny little patches of the sea and restrict our numbers.”
“Because we know you’re all territorial and dangerous. Selkies are friendly, they follow human laws and don’t try to drown us.”
She got up in my face and glared at me. “You don’t know the first thing about what it’s like to be a mermaid. We guard the wildlife, not disrupt it. If we seem territorial, it’s because we have to cling to the last of our territory. If it’s not being destroyed by human pollution, it’s being taken away by meddlesome Fae. They have no right to control the ocean—it’s supposed to be ours.”
She gazed straight into my eyes. “Do you have any evidence to back up your accusations, or are you just repeating what the Fae told you?”
I opened my mouth, but found nothing to say. She was right. I didn’t have proof that they were causing harm except for one thing. “You tried to drown me,” I said, my voice quavering. “When all I did was ask if you knew what happened. If you’d told me all this in the beginning, I would’ve helped you. Instead you lied, tricked me, stole my magic, and almost killed me.”
“Helped me?” Gabriella shook her head. “You are marked by a Fae. He told you to investigate me, right? So you were lying just as much as I was.”
I sank lower in the water. Another thing she was right about. I had lied to her, and then I broke my promise to keep her secret. Now I was sneaking in to steal from her again and I was about to turn her whole town into the authorities. I didn’t try to kill her, but almost everything else she’d done, I was guilty of doing the same.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know how things went so wrong between us.”
She shook her head. “It’s too late. And now that you’ve found our homes, I can’t let you live. The Fae would destroy everything we’ve built here.” She gave me a thin-lipped smile. “I’m sorry, Brie.”
She snapped her fingers.
A burning sensation spread over my skin, sinking deeper into my flesh. My body convulsed. It felt like knives were slicing me in half. My tail was ripping, tearing apart to form two legs again. I tried desperately to hold on with my magic, but she was too strong.
Someone, please help me, I thought desperately.
Loki had warned me that a mermaid could reverse the transformation. The bottom of the ocean was the worst place to become human again. As the mer abilities drained from me, I suddenly felt the pressure of all the water crushing the air from my lungs and the cold freezing my bones. I tried to hold on but I could already feel the darkness closing in.
Gabriella floated over me, looking sad as she watched me drown. I don’t know if it made things better or worse to see that some part of her actually cared about me.
I reached for her hand, and she took it, her skin warm against mine. At least I would have her near me at the end.
23
My body twitched again. I yanked Gabriella closer to me in a last desperate attempt.
I managed to lift my head and press my lips to hers. Her magic flowed into me, and I gasped as water filled my lungs—giving me the breath I needed to survive.
Gabriella pulled back and glared at me. “You—!”
“I’m not dying today,” I said. I kicked my human legs, ignoring the twinge of pain from my ankle, and lunged toward her. Before she could react, I snatched the oilskin tube from her hand. Then I grabbed a rock from the floor, smashed the glass window, and swam through the opening.
She let out a wordless shriek and hurried after me. She grabbed my bad ankle and yanked me back before I made it all the way through the window, cutting my leg against the broken glass.
I kicked out with my other foot and connected with her nose. Human legs were good for something!
She let go of me with a cry.
“You should know better than to mess with a McAddams!” I said, throwing a glare back at her.
Gabriella pressed her hand against her nose to staunch the blood. “McAddams? Your grandmother is Rosmerta McAddams?” She shook her head. “Of all the rotten witches, she’s the worst. Your family let all these magikin out of the Otherworld to steal our oceans!”
I lifted my chin proudly. “Yeah, and now I’m taking up the mantle.”
She stared at me, so maybe the family name was enough to intimidate her. I wasn’t going to wait around to give her another chance to attack me. I wriggled outside the window and swam straight up, heading for the surface.
The mermen guards had heard Gabriella’s shrieks and now they spotted me making my escape. They lifted their spears and sped toward me.
Now I missed the mermaid tail, because there was no way I was going to out swim those guards with my normal legs. I looped the strap of the oilskin tube over my shoulder and concentrated on my best racing form, but I could see them closing the distance rapidly.
Then something caught my eye. A long, narrow shadow was diving toward me like a missile through the water. On instinct, I reached out my hand and caught hold of a wooden handle. My broom!
The broom pulled me along with it as it spiraled around, dodging the mer guards, and turned to point up to the surface. I managed to get my other hand and both my legs wrapped around it, holding on tight. My eyesight blurred as we flew through the water faster than the merfolk could follow.
I’d never heard of a witch’s broom flying underwater before. Then again, I’d never heard of a witch calling her broom from so far away, either. Had my mother designed these abilities as part of the magic when she made it, or was I controlling it somehow? Coach Bloodgood hadn’t covered anything like this in her flying class.
When I got certified for SCUBA diving, they’d warned us that ascending from deep in the water too quickly would result in the bends, also called decompression sickness. But I didn’t have time to worry about that while I was being chased by angry merfolk. The sooner I got out of the ocean, the better.
We broke through the surface and rose into the sky. I gasped and coughed as my lungs adjusted back to breathing air, spitting up a little sea water. A wave of fatigue settled over me and all of my joints ached, especially my elbows and shoulders. It was all I could do just to hold on to the broom and not fall back into the sea.
I knew the merfolk wouldn’t be far behind me, though, and I didn’t want to see how far the guards could throw their spears. I urged the broom to head toward the beach. There was no way to tell how late it was. I hoped my friends might still be around, because I didn’t know if I could make it back to the school alone.
The ocean had been cold, but now I felt even colder as I flew. I still had my two-piece bathing suit on, so that had survived the transformation somehow, but the wind cut right through the thin fabric. I was also soaked, including my hair, which hung around my aching shoulders in heavy clumps. The water on my skin dried in the air but my hair held onto all that moisture like a sponge.
At first, it was so dark that I couldn’t tell if I was even heading for shore. But as we got closer, the two lighthouses shone their beacons. The broom automatically headed for the one on the right, which marked the harbor’s entrance.
Shivers wracked my body. I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes, and everything that wasn’t numb hurt like hell. My balance wavered, but the broom moved under me to keep me from slipping off. Good thing at least one of us knew what we were doing.
As we closed in on Twin Lakes Beach, a bonfire gleamed in the darkness. Someone was still there. Could it be my friends? A tiny hope flared to life in my chest, warming me des
pite the cold. They were so nice to wait for me.
The broom swooped down to the sand beside the bonfire and tried to make a more graceful landing than last time. I stayed wrapped around the handle, afraid to let go. Fortunately, Damian rushed over to me, and I let myself fall into his arms.
“She’s ice cold,” he said. “Quick, bring that blanket while I get her near the fire.”
He set me down on a towel and Erin threw the blanket over my shoulders. I tried to thank them, but my teeth were chattering so hard that I couldn’t form the words.
“Shh, don’t talk yet,” Damian said. He sat next to me and took my hands in his, rubbing them rapidly.
My fingers tingled, then burned as the feeling came back into them. I flinched away, and he moved down to my feet, careful not to touch my ankle. It seemed like everything just brought a new way to hurt. Why couldn’t I just pass out until the worst was over?
“Keep your eyes open,” Erin snapped at me as my eyelids sagged with exhaustion. “Tip your head back and drink this.”
I looked a question at her, but lifted my head obediently and opened my mouth.
Erin unscrewed another bottle and poured another liquid into my mouth. “It’s a healing tonic,” she explained. “I brought it just in case.”
She was even more prepared than me. The mixture was bitter and made me cough, hurting my already-ragged lungs and throat, but as I swallowed, it warmed me from the inside. My aches started to ease away.
I lifted my head and saw we were alone on the beach. The group of teens who had lit the bonfire must have left already. “What… time is it?” I gasped out.
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Erin scolded me. “Let’s just get you back to a safe temperature.”
The heat of the fire finally seemed to be reaching me. Damian stopped rubbing my toes and just put his arms around me, sharing his own warmth. I leaned into him and let myself relax in the soft blanket. Maybe I could doze off for just a few minutes.
But a haunting voice drifted out of the ocean. That sultry tone could only be Gabriella’s siren song. The melody urged us to come into the water.
My eyes snapped open, and I clutched the oilskin tube tighter. “We have to get off the beach,” I said. “They won’t stop until they get this back!”
Damian stared at the tube in surprise. “Wait, is the school charter in there? You actually found it?”
“Yes, and now there are some very pissed-off merfolk coming after me.” I threw off the blanket and struggled to stand. “Hurry, before they come out of the water!”
Damian stopped me from rising and picked me up. “It’s okay, we got it.”
Erin kicked sand over the fire and gathered the rest of our gear, then headed toward the car.
But Damian turned and headed toward the water—and he was carrying me with him.
“What are you doing?” I said, slapping his face. “Don’t listen to her!”
He stopped short and blinked at me. “Huh?”
The siren song grew louder, and Damian’s face grew clouded. In a daze, he started walking to the water again.
I could also feel the pull to join her again, but Gabriella had hurt me too many times for me to be lured by her tricks. I struggled to get out of Damian’s arms, but he just squeezed me tighter.
Erin turned around and stared at us. “Why are you guys going back in the water?”
“It’s her siren song!” I yelled. I was fighting to do everything I could, but I was so weak from my swim and Damian was more than twice my size. Pinching him, scratching him, snapping my fingers—nothing seemed to affect him.
“Cover his ears!” Erin called.
It couldn’t be that easy, could it? I reached up and clapped both hands over his ears.
Damian tried to shake me off for a moment, then went still. Awareness came back into his face and he scowled. “I can’t believe I almost fell for that.”
“Never mind, let’s just get out of here!”
He turned and hurried back up the beach, half-jogging across the sand. I kept my hands pressed hard on the sides of his head.
Gabriella’s voice rose in frustration, a last desperate attempt to grab hold of us, but we were winning.
I looked back over Damian’s shoulder and saw dark shapes coming out of the water. I counted at least six mermen who were transforming to chase us, but on land, we had the advantage. Just a few more steps and we would be gone.
Erin unlocked the car and held open the door for us. Damian slung me into the back, then hurried to get into the front seat before the song affected him again.
The mermen were halfway up the beach. “Go!” I said, waving frantically for Erin to start the car.
The engine roared to life, and the tires squealed as we peeled out of the parking lot. In the glow of the taillights, I saw the mermen reach the road. One of them chucked a spear at the car, but we were too far away and it just glanced off the back bumper.
I collapsed on the seat with a sigh of relief. It looked like we were finally free.
Then I caught a glimpse of the clock on the dashboard. My head snapped up. “It’s 11:30 already?”
“I told you not to worry about the time,” Erin said calmly.
“It’s way past curfew! Why didn’t you guys go back to the school like I told you? Now you’ll be in trouble with me!”
Damian turned around and pushed me back gently onto the seat. “Just rest for now. I’ll text a few people I know and find us a place to crash for the night. If you’re feeling better in the morning, then we can go to the academy and face the music.”
I shook my head. “No, the longer we wait, the worse it will be for us.” I pointed at his phone. “Could you find some way to contact the assistant dean? I want to give the charter to him as soon as possible—tonight, if he’s still awake.”
Damian frowned at me, but he pulled up the school’s directory. “I doubt anyone will be answering his office phone this late. I’ll leave him a message on his answering machine.”
I snatched the phone from his hand and looked at Yamasato’s contact information. There was no personal number, but there was an email address. “I’ll send him an email. He seems like the kind of guy who would open it in the middle of the night, especially if I put ‘emergency’ in the subject line.”
I tapped out a few lines telling Yamasato that we needed to see him right away. He wanted to keep the school charter’s theft a secret, so I didn’t make a direct reference to it. I just said, “I have that thing you were looking for. Meet me if you want to fix everything.” Then I hit send and handed the phone back to Damian.
Erin braked at a stop sign and waited. “Can someone just tell me where we’re going?”
I looked nervously through the back window, but there was no sign of angry mermen or anyone else. Maybe they didn’t have access to a car? “Please just go to the school,” I pleaded. “If they’re still after us, the school is the safest place. Good security.”
Damian muttered under his breath about mermaids already getting past the school’s best security.
“Do you know of somewhere safer?” I demanded.
“The castle would be the best place,” he said. “I mean, it’s built to be a fortress underneath all the pretty vineyards and chandeliers.”
I shook my head. “That’s twice as far away. It’s too risky.”
Erin put her foot on the gas and the car rolled forward again. “I’m just going for the academy.”
As we crossed the overpass for the freeway, Damian’s phone lit up. He made a noise of surprise as he read the notification.
“Yamasato says to meet him in his office.” He looked back at me. “He’s already told the school guards to let us in.”
I sank back down with a sigh of relief. I hadn’t even thought about the guards at the gate.
The guards waved us in. Erin drove on and turned into the student parking lot by our dorms.
“Wait, this is too far to walk,” I said. This lot
was at least half a mile away from the offices and the walk would be mostly uphill. “We need to hurry. Can’t you park closer to the admin building?”
Erin frowned. “That lot’s restricted to teachers only.”
“But no one will be there,” I pointed out. “What are they gonna do, call a tow truck? It’s almost midnight.”
She shrugged. “I guess not. But if I get a parking ticket, you have to pay it.” She circled around to leave the student lot, then went up the road to the faculty parking outside of the admin building.
Damian carried me inside, but I insisted that he set me down outside the assistant dean’s office. I wanted to walk in to face my potential doom, even if I still had to lean on my friends for support.
Yamasato jumped up from behind his desk the minute that we entered. “Do you have it?” he snapped.
I unslung the oilskin tube from my shoulder. Maybe I should have opened it sooner just to check what was inside. But when I removed the lid, I saw a rolled-up scroll. I let out a sigh of relief.
Yamasato snatched the tube away from me before I could touch the scroll. “Be careful with that.” He put on gloves and spread a clean cloth over his desk. Then he sat down, carefully removed the scroll, and unrolled it with shaking hands. He spent several moments examining the writing and the wax seal at the bottom.
Finally, he looked up and nodded. “This is the school charter. Thank you, Brie. But now you owe me an explanation.”
Damian took a step forward. “Why does she owe you anything? You told her to bring this back, and she did. It’s your turn to hold up your end of the bargain and reinstate her to classes.”
I put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay, I can tell him.” I hopped to a nearby chair and sank down. “But if you want to hear everything, I’m going to ask for another favor.”
The Reluctant Witch: Year One (Santa Cruz Witch Academy Book 1) Page 20